Season of change.Program update

Seasons are changing and we are excited to officially welcome autumn to Missouri.

Speaking of change, we can't wait to tell you about all the great change that's been happening at Ameren Missouri Pure Power! From the city of Maplewood becoming an EPA Green Power Community to new Pure Power businesses, we're flying into fall at full speed. And it's because of YOU.

The city of Maplewood kicked off their Green Power Community Challenge in May and surpassed their goal (to match three percent of the city's energy usage with green energy) in record time! Maplewood is now collectively supporting 7,257,719 kWh of green power annually, which is enough renewable energy to meet six percent of the community's total electricity use! With this tremendous achievement, Maplewood became the fourth city in Missouri to become an EPA Green Power Community!

We can't thank you enough for your commitment to a better world. Your participation in the Ameren Missouri Pure Power program not only reduces your carbon footprint, but helps sustain local, independent clean-energy producers. By helping build the green economy in our region, you are investing in real change - a clean, green, sustainable Missouri future.

The Pure Power Team

Maplewood: Mission complete

City earns national green power recognition

The city of Maplewood is celebrating its new, official status as an EPA Green Power Community! Over the past four months, Maplewood was on a mission: to match three percent of its citywide energy consumption with green energy. But, instead of taking the full year - what the EPA Green Power Community Challenge allows - the city far exceeded its original goal in only a few short months. In fact, Maplewood achieved this Green Power Community distinction faster than any other Missouri city!

In May, the Maplewood City Council announced a proclamation to launch the EPA Green Power Community Challenge, urging residents and businesses to make a commitment to renewable energy by:

By the end of the challenge, the city ended up matching over six percent of Maplewood's energy usage with green energy (and participation is still growing)! The environmental impact of matching six percent of the city's energy use with green energy is equivalent to reducing the city's carbon footprint by 13,380,331 pounds of carbon dioxide each year or taking 1,278 cars off the road every year.

City officials (including Mayor White) and EPA representatives held a victory celebration in September in conjunction with the Zwanze Day Spillover Celebration, where they officially announced Maplewood as an EPA Green Power Community (and said "cheers" over a Belgian beer!)

Maplewood is the fourth Missouri city to earn the EPA Green Power Community distinction - an honor which only 60 communities across the nation hold.

Energy 101

How does the grid work?

The US electric grid is made up of three major complex grids that provide energy to over 300 million residents. Together, the three grids operate as a giant one-way energy highway. Electricity moves from energy centers to high voltage transmission lines, then to lower voltage power lines, which distribute the electricity to homes, schools, businesses and neighborhood streets.

Energy centers, no matter what resource they use to make electricity, feed into the same grid - the energy mixes together, and flows out from the grid as needed. This co-mingling of energy sources ensures a reliable flow of power, even if one source of power goes out or temporarily shuts down. For example, if the wind stops blowing, there is still enough energy coming from other power sources to satisfy demand. Having diversified energy sources helps the grid remain reliable.

Today, it is becoming more common to add power through what is called “distributed generation”. Distributed generation refers to power that is produced at smaller-scale projects located closer to the end user, rather than large remote energy centers. Distributed generation might include small-scale wind farms, natural gas turbines, or rooftop solar on a local school or business. Although these projects can't produce enough electricity to power the entire neighborhood or area, distributed generation resources work with the large energy centers to provide a diverse mix of power to meet customer electricity needs around the clock.